Bob F. from New Mexico, who was heavy left in his setup and was hitting a lot of chunky shots and in trying to avoid too much earth digging and removal, then pulled up and out of the swing and got too much air hitting thin shots and blades. Bob also had the problem of NBB (nose pointing behind the ball) rather than NOB (nose pointing on or at the ball) that was a major cause of the chunks. As I pointed out in yesterday's article, defining the position of NOB and looking at what we want to hit as a major key to solid impact, Bob was still wrestling with another big issue in the pre-loaded heavy right (PLHR) setup, even with correct nose on the ball head and vision position.
Bob couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that if he got pre-loaded heavy left and NOB, he would be setup to chunk it even worse, even if he swung up to the T-Finish. How could he not chunk it more and deeper, hitting behind the ball, if he setup more behind the ball? It really is a good question and here is the answer.
Bob was setup heavy left and looking behind the ball. I describe this as his vision and swing were open in the backswing and closed in the forward swing past the ball to impact. That setup was all about swinging and hitting down, basically ending at the ball and at best, swinging through impact to the club parallel to the ground in the follow through, like a knockdown shot swing. That happens because swinging the arms up to the finish would pull him backwards causing him to fall down. I also describe this heavy left setup as like swinging on a downhill lie.
Setting up PLHR is like setting up on an uphill lie. That opens the swing to swinging up to the sky and the T-Finish. That allows the clubhead to approach the ball on a shallower, sweeping arch, where the ball can be swept off the grass, or nipped or pinched, as I also like to call it, taking a shallow tear of the grass out of the divot. The setup, being on the right leg now, can transfer the weight to the left leg to swing up to the T-Finish, like skipping a rock on a lake. Starting on the left leg and staying on the left leg in the backswing, there is nowhere to go in a transition but staying stuck there. You'll chop down on the ball or behind it, then re-coil backwards into a reverse weight shift, falling backwards.
The key to hitting the ball solid, with shallow divots, is the weight transfer from behind the ball to impact, then swinging up and standing up to the T-Finish. The PLHR setup position places the body in the simplest position to shift the body and swing the arms and club to impact and up to the T-Finish in dynamic balance.
The Surge!